“You okay?”
“I was alone.” Neal frowns slightly. “Is everything okay?”
“Fine.” Desmond holds a hand out towards Neal. “Come on.”
Neal slowly walks over and takes hold of Desmond’s hand. He leans against Alex and smiles softly.
“They’re really okay?”
“Perfectly.” Desmond squeezes Neal’s hand tightly.
“Then why are you both awake?”
“Because we missed them too much.”
“Me too.” Neal smiles and leans in slightly. “They’re so… I dreamed about them, I think.”
“I’d be disappointed you didn’t dream about me, but they’re so much cuter.”
Neal rolls his eyes and shakes his head, but smiles fondly. He watches Matthew and Elizabeth for a few minutes before speaking.
“So what were you talking about?”
“Life.”
“And?”
“It’s just getting started.”
Fin
Enjoyed yourself? Why not enjoy a bonus story?
Here’s a historical gay romance I wrote a few months ago. I do hope you enjoy it, particularly alongside a platter of buttery grilled shrimp.
A WORTHY COMPANION
Reginald slowly pushed the door to the library open, eager to escape the flux of people energetically chattering away in the main rooms. He felt rude doing so but as he had only begrudgingly accepted the invitation to the party at his sister Marise’s insistence, he enjoyed Isaac Colton’s companionship, he had been a good friend for many years, but found such social gatherings pointless as one never got to have a good in depth conversation in such a manner.
Hoping that no one saw the action he proceeded through the threshold, leaning against the door as he heard the subtle click as it closed. His sister would no doubt enjoy the night, seeing it as an opportunity to once more attach herself to Mr Harold Pemberton, whilst he would remained here for as long as his absence would go amiss.
He was startled, having not yet moved away from the door, to be greeted by a voice by the fireplace, “Lord Rowe, so we meet again.” He recognized the deep voice, slightly accented but soothing in a way Reginald should find disconcerting and when he looked down the room he saw Mr Elias Sully had turned slightly from one of the arm chairs.
“Sully, what a pleasant surprise!” Reginald beamed as it truly was a pleasure, “Must we always meet under such circumstances?”
The older man’s lips quirked slightly and he nodded his head, “Perhaps one day we shall actually meet with the rest of the party.” He gestured to the chair beside him and Reginald happily moved forward off of the door to take it.
“But then, I fear, our conversations would be derailed by social necessity,” The smaller man responded as he sank into the luxurious seat, turning to get a better view of his friend.
“Indeed,” Sully acknowledged, “Society has habit of preventing ones desired cause of action.”
Reginald smiled brightly at the man before him, “However it does have its benefits.”
“Such as?”
“Why the opportunity to meet new people, such as yourself, for we would not have met for it not for Miss Florentia Slade’s party last fall.”
“I believe you are mistaken,” Sully said with a sly smile.
“Oh?”
“I believe we would not have met if not for our both trying to escape from one Miss Slade’s party.”
Chuckling slightly at the memory, “Ah yes, our first meeting.”
“I believe on that occasion it was I who came creeping into the library seeking seclusion to find you by the fire mulling over a glass of brandy.”
Sully and Reginald had first met as described, finding the atmosphere too much and trying to find solace, only to find each other. They had had a pleasant evening conversing over simple matters that got into rather invigorating arguments regarding politics and science before they had been interrupted and forced to re-join the party. It was to be another month until another party allowed them to meet again, once again finding each other away from the rabble of the party, but that night in the garden. There coincidental meetings had re-occurred in the following few months but as it stood it had been two months since their last meeting and Reginald found himself welcoming it. The possibility of conversing with Sully was often the only reason to go to social galas of late.
“I find I have the best conversations in seclusion,” Reginald admitted earning him a pointed stair from the other man, “Do you not agree?” he added belatedly feeling a slight blush threatening from the intensity of it.
Sully considered him for a moment, “I do in fact. Most invigorating.”
“I feel absurd hiding away, at times, as all those present are well-acquainted with me and I consider most good friends.”
“All?” Sully asked raising an eyebrow and Reginald was forced to think of some of the members of the current party he was less so inclined to like, namely the Worthing’s.
“Perhaps not,” Reginald amended, “Almost all.”
That pulled a small snigger from the other man, “I cannot presume to fathom who you are referring to,” Sully said, a glint in his eye saying exactly how much he knew, “Remind me again, how you are acquainted with the Worthing’s?”
“Family ties. My family and his were close in generations past, now it seems more obligation to maintain the pretence.”
“Ah, of course.”
“And yourself?”
The other man’s face soured slightly, “Let us say that not all the men one meets in business are through choice and I would not choose to meet him out of it.”
The Sully’s were an established family for a few generations now but they had grown from the dirt unlike the Rowe’s who had been aristocracy as far back as one could remember. Subtle reminders like this worked well for Reginald who often forgot that for some managing the estates was not the only line of business to attend to.
“How goes the business?”
“Well, as usual.”
“I am glad of it.” Reginald smiled back drawing a subtle nod from the other. Many disliked Sully due to his seemingly cold demeanor but Reginald had always found him to be an open sort and enjoyed being able to extract small smiles and indications that the other was enjoying himself most thoroughly. They let the conversation pass the time, sighing when the clock on the mantel struck eleven signaling they had been secluded far too long and the main party would soon start to dissipate.
“Society calls,” the taller man chuckled darkly, “I fear our presence will soon be missed.”
“Yes, of course, Marise no doubt will start looking for me when she wishes to depart.”
“Well then, until the next,” He nodded at him.
Sully stood with a sigh, looking reluctantly to the door and Reginald leapt at the opportunity as the idea formulated in his head, “Sully, you should come to the manor sometime for a visit, perhaps then we can have an undisturbed conversation.”
It drew a small smile from the other man who hastily responded, “Indeed, I shall look forward to it.”
“As shall I,” he said with a true smile, also rising, “Come whenever you are able, business very rarely takes me away from the estate.”
They left the library together and nodded briefly in goodbye as they went their separate ways in the room, Reginald to find Marise and Sully to undoubtedly congratulate the host on such a lovely evening. Unsurprisingly, he found his sister chatting amicably still with Mr Pemberton who seemed invested but looked drawn, so he decided to intervene on his behalf.
“Harold! My lad, you must be exhausted, how many hours was the carriage ride over?”
“Only a few,” the shy man admitted but Marise gathered herself quickly.
“Then you must go rest,” She said taking his hand, “Besides myself and my brother need to be heading back.” There had been the option to stay the night for those coming from father a field but the Rowe estate was only an hour from t
he Colton’s and so they had opted to return that evening.
Harold rose to his feet at the same time as Marise and offered her a hand to their carriage, “It has been a pleasure, my lady,” he said as she entered. She blushed slightly at the compliment as did the other.
“I have enjoyed your company, also.”
Reginald clapped Harold on the shoulder in goodbye before joining his sister. As soon as the carriage started moving she let out a sigh, “That was a wonderful evening, don’t you agree?”
He smiled back at her, “It was.”
“I did not see you half the night, where had you hidden yourself?”
“The library, I once again ran into Mr Sully.”
“Oh,” she smiled at him knowingly, “So you did have a good evening then.”
“He is an interesting person to talk to,” she smiled at him but he rolled his eyes, “That reminds me, I have invited him up for a stay.”
Her eyes lit up at the possibility of a party so before she spoke he quickly shook his head, “No, Marise. I would prefer not, if you so desire to see Mr Pemberton again you may ask him up whenever you wish.”
She frowned minutely before laying her hands on her dress and smoothing out the creases, “I do not to know to what you refer.”
He laughed at her and she glared at him, pointedly refusing to talk to him for the remainder of the journey.
***
Reginald received the letter a scant few days after they last parted ways from Sully suggesting he visit that coming week for a short stay, he had quickly written his reply happily agreeing and starting to make arrangements for their guest. When he had informed Marise, she rolled her eyes and smiled at him, “This is rather well timed.”
“Oh?”
“I received a letter from Harold asking if I would like to visit.”
Reginald frowned slightly, he knew his sister would behave properly but it was not accepted for a young girl to visit another man without supervision, she noticed quickly and huffed, “The invitation extends to you too and he has already mentioned that Florentia, Isaac and Ambrose will be attending as well.”
“Oh.”
“I couldn’t possibly ask you cancel and so will go by myself, Florentia was already going to stay with us that week so can accompany me.”
“Your organizational skills amaze me, dear sister,” he said processing just how quickly she made managed to arrange her plans so she could attend a party and leave Reginald at home.
She smiled and hugged him briefly, “The gathering shall last the weekend so you can enjoy your sour brooding together.”
“You should take Cathy along with you, of course. I will also have Lodge accompany your carriage, it may not be his main job but he is a skilled horseman and I would rather someone accompany.”
She nodded reluctantly, they had a driver, Murphy, but he was a little old and would be no good should a situation arrived, Lodge was a valuable member of the household though not tied down to one roll. It was admirable that he was so flexible, happy to garden, valet, be a butler or chauffer depending on what the situation called for. After he had made her promise to keep safe on the journey he let her disappear off to go and pack.
The next day when he retreated from going over paperwork and went down for luncheon to see Florentia and Marise gossiping amongst themselves he couldn’t be shocked in the least. Florentia was practically a sister to them, “Hello, dear.”
She turned from her seat and stood, smiling and embracing him slightly, “Wonderful to see you, I missed you at the party.”
Marise shot him a pointed look but he ignored it and took the seat next to her, “I am sorry, we will have to catch up today instead.”
They quickly proceeded to do so, Florentia talking about how her father’s business was going well before Marise proceeded to embarrass her by gossiping that Isaac had been trying to stay close to her all evening. Reginald had chastised her but Florentia had smiled weakly and said it was okay, making the man wonder if there was in fact some truth to it then.
They retired to the drawing room following lunch and continued their conversation, “So are you leaving this eve or on the morrow?” Reginald asked having never fully discerned the details from Marise.
“On the morrow,” Florentia said softly, “Are you sure you can’t attend with us? It will not be the same without your presence.”
Reginald had to smile as he tried to think back to the last occasion he had stayed with the entire of the company for the full eve and realized he could not. “I am sorry to disappoint, my dear, but before Mr Pemberton’s plans were made light of I had already made plans.”
“I am sure Mr Sully would be welcome too,” Florentia tried to insist, “He has been part of our group of friends for over two years now and we are well adjusted to him.”
Reginald tried not to notice the way she hadn’t called him a friend but slowly shook his head, “The plans are in place, but I am sure it will not be long till I see you all.”
Florentia looked about to protest again but she sighed, “Very well, we shall have to do manage with just the five of us.”
“Now, ladies, I must excuse myself to take care of the necessities of business.” Reginald said as he stood and gave them a small bow.
Reginald had quickly been working through his business matters in the last week to make sure he had no concerns for the duration of the week. He was rather excited of the prospect of a few days in good company as he found no one challenged him quite so much as Sully and he found himself constantly captivated.
***
Not long after he had seen Marise and Florentia off, his butler Felton came into the study to inform him there was a carriage approaching. He quickly stood up and walked down to the front of the house, finding himself oddly nervous about the whole affair, even trying to smooth down his hair he had been told, on multiple occasions, looked like a wild beast.
His breath caught in his throat as Sully quickly disembarked from the carriage and he felt himself unusually captivated in the motion, watching as he stretched his body out, eyes tracing on the material that no doubt concealed taught lines from muscle and as his eyes reached his face and saw the harsh lines he felt his mouth go dry slightly.
Recomposing himself he walked forward, hand outstretched as the other man finished disembarking, “Sully, so glad you could make it.”
The other man’s face was a neutral mask but his eyes betrayed a touch of warmth as he accepted the hand in a firm shake, his hands were oddly soft but warm, something Reginald missed the second it disappeared.
“Please come in,” he said gesturing back at the stairs that led into the house, turning to gesture to Felton, “Take Mr Sully’s things up into the guest room, please.”
The butler nodded and so the two gentleman entered the house and he watched the occasional flicker of Sully’s eyes as he scanned their surroundings, “You have a magnificent house.”
“Thank you. Though I am loathe to say it, I have very little input in the décor of the place, Marise can be quite strong-minded in that regard.”
Sully’s lip quirked, “Yes, from the impression I garnered from our brief conversation, I would concur. Any man who marries her would have their work cut out.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he gestured to the small library on their left rather than the sitting room he would take most guests to, “Shall we?”
They settled into the room on two arm chairs with a small table in between, “I hope your journey wasn’t too arduous.”
“Not at all, we do not live that far apart after all.”
“Yes, I forget that, living here amidst all this grass. It is easy to forget you are not alone in the world.”
Sully was looking past Reginald at the gardens through the window behind him, “The grounds do seem quite handsome.”
“We shall have to take a walk together sometime.” Reginald found having to remind himself to not stare at Sully’s face for prolonged period of time somewh
at taxing, “On a side note, it will just be us two for the weekend.”
The man met his gaze, a curious expression, “Indeed?”
“My sister has gone with friends to Mr Pemberton’s for the weekend.”
His eyes softened in understanding, “Were you not invited?”
“I was, but I declined, Miss Slade tried to convince me to bring you along but I assumed you, like I, would prefer a weekend in solitude.”
Their conversation picked up from where they had left discussing the pros and cons of society’s constrictions and they found themselves lost within it until a gong sounded signaling dinner in an hour. The noise caused them to shift and only then had Reginald noticed how much the two men were leaning in towards each other.
“Another of societies trivialities,” Sully considered, “Dressing again for dinner.”
Reginald chuckled leaning back slightly, “For what other excuse would we have to wear our best?”
“If it weren’t for dressing for dinner, would we need a best?” Sully counted.
“Touché.”
Sully nodded with a realer smile than he had seen on the man before playing on his lips, “That being said though, perhaps a chance to freshen up would not go amiss.”
Reginald then realized he had monopolized Sully to the extent he hadn’t allowed the poor man to get properly settled, “Oh, please accept my apologies, I should have offered you a chance sooner. Marise would scold me for such poor hosting.”
“Nonsense,” Sully said, “Your hosting skills this far have thus far left me thoroughly entertained.”
They stood simultaneously, forcing them a little too close together, so close that he could feel Sully’s heat as if it was his own and he found himself wanting to close the gap yet still, found his eyes meeting Sully’s who seemed entranced as well before Reginald remembered himself and took a step back, “Please let me show you to your room?”
Sully nodded curtly and followed him out and up the stairs, “As you can imagine we have a rather large number of guest rooms,” Reginald said as they walked, “But as there are only the two of us I set you up in one of the family rooms, it is much nicer.”
The Unexpected: An Mpreg Romance Page 16